Help for educators in meeting the challenge of involving parents and extended families of at-risk children is offered in this report. Twenty-eight chapters provide information to help educators communicate with low-income, nonwhite, and non-English speaking parents. Part 1 identifies the at-risk population, the benefits and forms of family involvement, and discusses the schools role in initiating contact. Part 2 examines the components of family/school partnerships--communication, understanding the home atmosphere, preparing children for school, home learning, and empowering parents. Support for families and teachers is described in part 3, and issues relevant to special ages, such as early preschool intervention and high school dropout prevention, are examined in part 4. Special groups are discussed in the fifth part, including rural families, nontraditional parenting arrangements, families with disabled children, and Asian-American, Hispanic, and African-American families. Part 6 examines the process of developing parent/school partnerships through discussions of three topics: elements of successful programs; recruitment; and maintaining parent involvement. A conclusion is that organizational change is gradual, requires collaboration, and is not an end in itself. Forty-six sidebars providing supplementary and illustrative information accompany the text. The appendix contains an annotated list of 14 organizations concerned with at-risk families. (138 references) (LMI)